“Yeah, about that…” I sighed and narrowed my eyes at her. “I’m not going to lose my virginity to someone just because it’s their Infinite Fantasy.”
“It’s more than that.” Angelina leaned forward. “It’s about letting go—experiencing your sexual liberation. Plus, you’re going to really enjoy it.”
“I doubt that. You’ve been wrong twice already.” I maintained my narrow-eyed stare.
“Twice? What do you mean?” Angelina tilted her head to the side.
“You said that I share the same—desires with Harmony. I asked her. I’m not interested in getting spanked.” I shook my head quickly.
“You’ll be surprised what wonderful desires you develop once you let go of your repressed sexuality. Virginity is admirable, especially at your age, and you’re going to lose it to two men who will treat you like a queen.” Angelina nodded as she spoke.
“Two men?” I swallowed hard. “Now I know you’re crazy. Besides, my sexuality isn’t repressed. I’ve done things, I just haven’t went all the way.”
“You’re going to do a lot of things very soon, and you’ll beg them to pop your cherry when the time comes.” Angelina chuckled and started to stand.
I stared at
Angelina as she left and shook my head in disbelief. She was out of her damn mind. That much had become abundantly clear. I spent the morning hours getting everything organized in my office, logging into the purchasing system, and preparing for my lunch date with Joaquin. Once I felt like everything was set, I walked around the office and introduced myself to my coworkers. One of the doors was closed, and I saw Mark inside the office, talking to a Senior Purchasing Agent named Irwin. I had worked with him on a few projects, and an introduction wasn’t really necessary, so I didn’t disturb the meeting. I waited until it was time to go, and the headed for the elevator—…and promptly ran headfirst into Irwin who was walking by my office.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” I took a step back as the paperwork he was carrying hit the ground.
“It’s my fault, I’m sure. I wasn’t paying attention.” Irwin squatted to pick up the paperwork he had dropped.
“Here, let me help you.” I squatted and started gathering the paperwork.
Wait—does that say something about a club? That’s the street Hal’s Pub is on.
“Thanks.” He pulled the paperwork out of my hand before I could finish reading it.
“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say hello earlier. You were in a meeting with Mark.” I looked up at him as he stacked the papers in his hand, covering the one I was most interested in.
“Yeah, I’m working on some contract crap. Nothing you should be concerned with. I hear you’ve got a big account to pop your cherry.”
My—my cherry?
“What?” I felt the color drain out of my face.
“Your sales cherry—sorry, it’s a boy’s club up here. I didn’t mean to be vulgar.” He looked down with a bit of a nervous smile on his face.
“Oh! Right, yep!” I felt the color returning when I realized what he was talking about. “I’m off to get my cherry popped right now!”
Oh fuck, that sounded worse than when he said it.
“Good luck.” Irwin awkwardly waved as I headed to the elevators.
Chapter Six
Joaquin
I waited nervously at Cafe Rue, which sat on the corner between hipster gentrification and the gritty South Side of Chicago. I liked seeing both sides of the equation. It was like a virus spreading and trying to consume the other, but the funny thing was, I didn’t know which one was the actual virus. I was used to the seedier side of Chicago. My childhood home was in one of the worst areas, but it was easy to avoid trouble if you were careful. There were rules, and the natives understood them well. Sure, it was a dent in our freedom not to be able to leave the house after a certain hour and avoid the areas where the homeless drug addicts hung out, but survival was more important than anything.
The gentrification movement wasn’t new. There was always someone looking to fix things up and paint over the graffiti. The latest incarnation seemed to have more teeth than some of the previous attempts, and they were backed up by droves of people wanting to experience culture—at least that was what they called it. I never thought the neighborhood I grew up in would have historical significance. It was just a cesspool everyone worked to get out of. I did the same thing and I left home as soon as I could. My father’s death and my fiancée’s about face on our future gave me the motivation to stay. It wasn’t a bad life, even if it wasn’t the one I dreamed of having.
“Joaquin! Hey!” I heard a voice and lifted my head to see Gina walking towards me.
Fuck, she’s even hotter in the daylight.
“Hello, gorgeous.” I stood and walked around the table to pull out her chair.